Appetite

A Novel

De: P. Paramita

Narrado por: Reena Dutt

An affirming and utterly original debut about a young chef chasing her dreams—and the pro wrestler she idolizes who derails everything

“Appetite holds a mirror to the puzzling ways humans sometimes find themselves connecting with one another, on and offline. Prepare to be captivated.”—Jinwoo Chong, author of I Leave It Up to You

“I flew through Appetite in one hungry sitting—chest racing, mouth watering, and seriously questioning if I should make women’s wrestling my new personality.”—Haley Jakobson, author of Old Enough

How far will you go to feed your ambitions?

Zarina, a prep cook at a fancy New Haven restaurant, is underpaid, overworked, and might as well be invisible. The only upside? She gets to take home leftover ingredients and whip up modern spins on the Bangladeshi dishes she grew up eating—all while enjoying her second greatest passion, professional wrestling: namely, her hero Sierra Myst, the massively successful, high-flying heel who’s built like a superhero and is every bit as daring.

One night, Zarina posts about Sierra Myst, and the impossible happens: Sierra responds. Zarina is elated at the chance to become closer with her idol. At first, their friendship is everything she’s ever dreamed of. But as the weeks fly by, Zarina starts to feel more like Sierra’s unpaid personal assistant and relationship counselor—and her desire to make Sierra happy soon threatens everything she’s worked for.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Sometimes a book comes along that hits all the right notes and makes all the right moves. Paramita’s ode to wrestling and food is a deliciously fun book. The novel digs deep into what happens to a person who finds fame and the fandom that comes along with it.”—Debutiful

“For fans of The Bear and WWE wrestling, pop culture reporter Paramita’s debut novel is a tautly told story about an up-and-coming young chef whose life explodes when she crosses paths with her favorite professional wrestler.”—The Seattle Times

“The recent Apple TV adaptation of Margot’s Got Money Troubles has readers clamoring for more chaotic coming-of-age stories involving colorful pro-wrestling characters, and they’ll find it in P. Paramita’s debut, Appetite. Zarina is a twentysomething Bangladeshi prep cook by day and a massive pro-wrestling fan by night. When her online post catches the eye of her idol, Sierra Myst, their unlikely friendship busts Zarina’s world wide open. But what is it they say about never meeting your heroes? With reflections on parasocial relationships and lots of delicious food descriptions, it’s a story you’ll love sinking your teeth into.”—Susie Dumond for Book Riot

“Heartfelt and original . . . Both unsettling and uplifting, Appetite makes all of us question where we are in the torture of discovering who we might become.”—Electric Literature

“Deeply personal and sharply attuned to our cultural moment . . . At its core, Appetite dissects the funny intimacy between a searching brown immigrant woman and the wealthy, enigmatic white celebrity she idolizes. Paramita examines this dynamic with scalpel-sharp insight, revealing how admiration and power can blur into something more dangerous.”—The New Haven Indpendent

“A tender debut . . . reckoning with fame, fandom, race.”—Tanaïs, author of In Sensorium: Notes for My People

“P. Paramita’s Appetite is a love song to fusion, to kitchens, to wrestling, to mustard, to FaceTime across time zones, to risks on all scales . . . and most of all, it’s a love song to dreaming and friendship, and the ways care and creativity and hunger make everything else possible. This is a deeply modern story about the relationship between our digital and embodied lives, and also a tale that feels timeless, told from the heart, about heritage and reinvention and hope.”—Leslie Jamison, author of The Empathy Exams

“A delicious debut full of warmth, ambition, and what it means to peel back the mask of performance and take the stage anyway. Warning: have snacks on hand before reading. A lot of them.”—Haley Jakobson, author of Old Enough